Spotting gun



United States Patent 3,495,780 SPOTTING GUN Peter D. Rasmussen,Milwaukee, and Norman A. Buckley,

Wauwatosa, Wis., assignors to McGraw-Edison Company, Elgin, 11]., acorporation of Delaware Filed Feb. 15, 1968, Ser. No. 705,849 Int. 'Cl.Bb 9/08 US. Cl. 239-530 7 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE Thisinvention relates to a portable hand held gun for discharging steamand/or air from a flexible conduit, as commonly practiced in the drycleaning field, and particularly relates to an improved connection ofthe conduit to the gun and its disposition relative to a heat insulatedhandle for the gun.

-In the commercial dry cleaning of garments, it is common to conditionthe garment with steam and/or air discharged from a portable hand heldgun connected in turn to a flexible supply conduit. The gun, being handheld and portable, is particularly suitable for locally conditioning thegarment such as over spots thereon, However, since steam is dischargedfrom the gun, the metal components of the gun become heated and capableof rather severely burning the user of the gun should the useraccidentally touch any exposed metal component. Even though the handlefor the gun and the flexible conduit are insulated, certain metalcomponents such as the conduit connections, are exposed.

Accordingly, an object of this invention is to provide a portable handheld steam and/or air dispensing gun having an insulated handle thatcompletely covers and shields the conduit connection to the gun.

A more detailed object of this invention is to provide a portable handheld dispensing gun having a metallic body and a heat insulated tubularsleeve connected to the metallic body and extending over and completelycovering the connection between the conduit and the gun.

Another object of this invention is to provide in a steam dispensing gunaccording to the preceding object a sufliciently large insulated tubularsleeve so that it freely and loosely receives the end of the conduit topermit the conduit to be angled rather extensively away from the handlefor oifering high mobility to the gun With minimum flexure of theconduit.

Another object of this invention is to provide a portable hand held gunhaving several major components which can be readily assembled anddisassembled relative to one another for easy replacement and cleaningof the components.

These and other objects will be more fully understood and appreciatedafter reviewing the following specification, the accompanying drawingforming a part thereof, wherein:

FIG. 1 is a side elevational view of a preferred embodiment of thesubject portable dispensing gun;

FIG. 2 is a sectional view as seen generally from the longitudinalcenter of the gun shown in FIG, 1; and

FIG. 3 is a perspective view of the subject gun, showing it in apartially disassembled manner.

3,495,780 Patented Feb. 17, 1970 In the drawing, a fluid dispensing orspotting gun 10 is shown and includes a metallic body 12 having anappropriate discharge nozzle 14 and a handle 16 of a heat insulatingmaterial connected to the body. A flexible conduit or hose 18 isconnected in fluid communicating relationship to body 12 for dischargefrom the nozzle, the hose extending through the handle 16.

The body 12 includes a stem 20 (FIG. 2) having a throughbore 21, and ahead 22 secured. to the stem and having an opened end cavity 25 whichcommunicates with the throughbore 21. The stem and head are securedtogether in any appropriate manner as by means of weld 27. The nozzle 14is of one piece construction and includes a threaded section 30 which isadapted to cooperate with threaded tap 31 on the head 22. The nozzle 14has a through opening 34 which permits discharge from the cavities 21and 25, An O-ring' 36 is confined between shoulder 37 on the nozzle andthe head 22 to provide both a fluid tight seal between these componentsas well as to maintain the nozzle in any rotatably adjusted position. Inthis regard, the discharge end of nozzle opening 34, as seen at 40, isgenerally rectangular to discharge a pattern of fluid therefrom, so thatit is possible by rotating the nozzle to orient this rectangular openingrelative to the head 22.

The handle 16 includes a form 46 which has a central bore 47 to bereceived over a smooth. bore section of the stem 20 and be held againstan intermediate shoulder 48 on the stem by nut 49 threaded onto threadedend 50 of the stem. A tubular sleeve 52 having an internally threadedsection 54 is secured to threaded section 56 of the form 46, and gasket58 is confined between the sleeve and shoulder 60 of form 46. The sleeve52 has an inner bore 62 which is significantly larger than the hose 18and thus freely accommodates the hose therewithin.

The threaded end 50 of the stem extends beyond the nut 49 and is thuscapable of receiving a threaded fitting 66 on the hose 18. The fittingincludes spaced annular walls 71 and 72 that confine mechanically and influid sealed relation the end of the hose, a base 73 connected to thewalls, and a nut 74 rotatably mounted on the base and having flange 73aconfined by the base. The nut is adapted to be threaded onto the stemand establish a fluid seal at seat 70 between the fitting and the stem.Hose 18 includes an inner tubular body 76 Which communicates with thethroughbore 22 and an insulating covering 78..A spiral wire spring 80 isreceived over the fitting 66 and over approximately 2 to 4 inches of theend of the hose and helps to prevent excessive bending of the hosebeyond some minimum radius of curvature. The hose combination shown istypical and forms no part of the subject invention.

The handle sleeve 52 extends in length beyond the end of the wire spring80 and thus completely covers the fitting 66 and any metal component ofthe hose that is normally at a high temperature. An insert 84 is snuglyreceived in bore 62 of the sleeve and has a contoured inner edge 86 thatis shaped convexly away from the inner bore of the sleeve. This smoothsurface readily accommodates flexure of the hose over it and minimizeshose failure. Moreover, since the connection of the hose to the gun atthe fitting 66 is some distance from the contacting edge 86 of thehandle and since the handle bore 62 loosely receives the hose, the hosecan angle quite a bit from the longitudinal axis of the handle even asit engages the convex edge to improve the mobility of the gun even more.

It thus is apparent that the subject gun has great mobility in use inthat the hose can be quite extensively angled away from the longitudinalaxis of the handle while yet not subjecting the hose to criticalbending. Moreover, the hose connection and surrounding handleconstruction provide for a rather short and small, and thus a ratherlightweight gun. Since all metal components on the hose and itsconnection to the gun are covered and insulated, the user is protectedagainst accidental burning.

While only a single embodiment has been disclosed, it will be obviousthat many variations can be provided which do not depart from theinventive concept, so that it is requested that the scope of the subjectinvention be limited only by the following claims.

What is claimed is:

1. A portable hand held gun for directing steam and/ or air from aflexible conduit toward a garment for conditioning the garment, thecombination comprising a body element having a throughbore; a threadedoutlet tap on the body element surrounding one end of the throughbore; anozzle threaded onto the tap of the body element over one end of thethroughbore; an O-ring confined between the nozzle and the body elementfor sealing said nozzle to said throughbore; a threaded stem on the bodyelement surrounding the opposite end of the throughbore; said conduitbeing threaded onto the stem over the other end of the throughbore andsealed to said throughbore; and handle means for the body elementincluding an upstanding projection on the body element, an annular formreceived over the body element against the projection, a nut threadedonto the stern for holding the form against the projection, and atubular element received over and being threaded onto and secured to athreaded section of the form, the tubular element having an interiorbore substantially larger than the conduit and freely receiving theconduit therein, the tubular element at its end opposite the form havinga convexly flared interior edge for engaging the conduit during normalmovements of the gun, and the form and tubular element each being of aheat insulating material.

2. A gun according to claim 1, wherein a metallic coil spring fits overthe end of the conduit adjacent the body element and is confinedentirely within the tubular element.

3. A gun according to claim 1, wherein the nozzle has an outlet openingof elongated cross section to effect an elongated spray pattern, andwherein the nozzle can be rotated relative to the body element and heldin any rotative position by the O-ring.

4. A gun according to claim 1, wherein an annular plug is secured to thetubular element at the end thereof opposite the annular form, andwherein the plug is contoured to define the previously mentionedconvexly flared interior edge.

5. A gun according to claim 1, wherein the longitudinal axis of the stemis coincidental with the longitudinal axis of the tubular element, andwherein the nozzle extends with its outlet opening disposed at a sharpangle relative to this coincidental longitudinal axis.

6. A portable hand held gun for directing hot fluid from a flexibleconduit, the combination comprising a body element having a throughbore;a nozzle on the body element over one end of the throughbore; means onthe body element surrounding the opposite end of the throughbore adaptedto provide a mechanically fast and fluid sealed connection to saidconduit; and handle means for the body element including a first stop onthe body element, an annular form received over the body element againstthe first stop, a second stop removably cooperating with the bodyelement between the first stop and the conduit connection means forholding the form against the first stop, and a tubular element receivedover and removably secured to a circumferential section of the formspaced radially from the body element, the tubular element having aninterior bore substantially larger than the conduit and freely receivingthe conduit therein and extending over the second stop, the conduitconnection means, and part of the conduit, the tubular element at itsend opposite the form having a convexly flared interior edge forengaging the conduit during normal movement of the gun, and the form andtubular element each being of a heat insulating material.

7. A gun according to claim 6, wherein the nozzle is a separate elementrotatably secured to the body element, wherein said nozzle has anelongated opening to create an elongated spray pattern, and whereinmeans including an O-ring confined between the nozzle and the bodyelement provide a fluid seal between these components and alsoresiliently hold the components against rotation.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 995,017 6/1911 Keevil 239530 X1,955,846 4/ 1934 Campbell 239-288 X 2,054,307 9/1936 Taylor 239-530 X2,231,199 2/1941 Smith 239-530 X 2,564,818 8/1951 Schwartz 68222 XSAMUEL F. COLEMAN, Primary Examiner

